France hit seven goals as Hikers swamp Supernova
… wins for GCC Flora and GCC Vets
ROBERT France was unstoppable yesterday afternoon at the National Gymnasium, hitting seven goals as Hikers outplayed and later on swamped Supernova 12-1 in the opening match of the seventh annual Guyana Hockey Board-organised Diamond Mineral Water (DMW)-sponsored indoor hockey festival. The experienced Hikers outplayed their young opponents with wonderful stick play, ball possession and at the same time capitalising on their goal-scoring opportunities while affecting numerous substitutions.
Following Jerazano Bell’s opening strike in the 5th minute, France scored two quick goals in the 6th minute to make it 3-0 in favour of Hikers, before Colonel Harewood added another, one minute later.
With a four-goal cushion, many thought Hikers would have sat back and allowed their much younger opponents to bring the game to them, but instead, they carried the game to their opponents as France found the back of the net in the 8th, 16th and 18th minutes of play, while Randy Hope scored the first of his double in the 15th minute.
At the half, Hikers were leading their opponents 8-0 which became 9-0 two minutes into the second half, as Hope continued his double.
A goal-hungry France went on the hunt and found his meal with two strikes that were separated by one minute, (28th and 29th), but not before Mark Sargeant had pulled one back in the 27th minute for Supernova.
With the wind being knocked out of their sails, a hapless-looking Supernova watched as Bell got his second goal of the contest and when the referee’s whistle sounded to signal the end of the 40-minute encounter, the scorecard read 12-1 in favour of Hikers.
In the first ladies’ fixture of this year’s tournament, Georgetown Cricket Club’s Flora fought off a game and spirited Hikers Female lineup to come away with a commanding 5-0 victory, thanks to double strikes from Dominique De Groot and Gabriella Xavier.
De Groot scored in the 13th and 16th minutes while Xavier got her double in the 1st and 37th minutes of play, which, along with Marzena Fiedtkou’s 32nd minute goal, guided the GCC girls to victory.
Allan Fernandes got a hat-trick for GCC Veterans who defeated Old/Old Fort 3-2, with Wayne St Jules scoring a brace for the losing team.
Fernandes rolled back the years to score his goals in the 16th, 20th and 23rd minutes, after St Jules had sent his team into the lead, with his 11th and 18th-minute strikes.
Eight games were scheduled to be contested on the opening day of action which will continue today with another eight games at the same venue.